Feb 23: OLD ST. AUGUSTINE

Good evening all,

The first few pics are ones that I had forgotten to post previously.

I thought this sunset picture from Naples was unique for me in that the flock of birds was flying across the sunset. I liked that.

Also in Naples, we took a walk with Katy & Don and saw these little "crocks"; they were 2 year olds; i.e. about 18 inches long. Not all that big.

Here's a close up of one of the little ones.

OK....Now on to St. Augustine. The beautiful city that I have had the good fortune to have been there twice before in my life. When I was about 8 yrs. old and then again about 20 years ago with the kids. We didn't stop to see the "Fountain of Youth" discovered by Ponce de Leon. It obviously doesn't work...because I drank from it twice. Ha ha ha.

Here is the picture of the streets that I just love in St. Augustine, with all the Spanish moss hanging from the trees. Beautiful....

We did take a guided tour of the old town. Once again, very interesting and instructive...but I sure can't remember all of it. There were several very opulent hotels built in St. Augustine; this one is now a college. The buildings are very beautiful and ornate.

We toured the old town in a trolley similar to that in Key West. One of the stops was the Castillo de San Marcos built by the Spanish in 1672; it protected against English attacks. During the Revolutionary War it was held by the British; later it became part of the U.S. coastal defense system.

At one point during a 52 day siege of St. Augustine, 1500 people took refute in the fort (along with the soldiers). It was very cramped...you can see how small it is.

What a beautiful view of the bay. Obviously a good defensive position.

Then we had the opportunity to visit the second most visited place in St. Augustine....the old jail.

It was used until 1953.

And here is a picture of the gallows which still stands on the grounds, but nobody had been hung after 1908. After our tour, we headed north to Savanah, GA. A beautiful city we had the priviledge of visiting about 20 or so years ago. As we drove north, a friend of mine, Jeanie, asked if we were going to go to Paula Dean's restaurant. Truthfully, I knew that she was a delightful southern cook....but didn't know she had a restaurant in Savanah. So, thank you, Jeannie for a delightful evening.

The restaurant is named The Lady and Sons. It occupies a 3 story building: they do events and receptions, etc, in the basement; serve 150 folks on the 1st and 3rd floors; the second floor is the kitchen. They can seat 350 people on a normal day, but on special days like Easter, Thanksgiving, etc, they can serve 1500 people a day when they use all three floors.

The menu.

This was a spectacular chicken pot pie, made from a wonderful personal recipe of Paula Dean.

The crust was as light as could be, almost melt in your mouth.

The mahi mahi was blackened. Chris thought that it was fantastic. What an unexpected treat.

Tomorrow we are going to walk around some of the beautiful squares in old town, and then drive to Davidson, North Carolina to meet some friends from Alaska. It's a short 4 hour drive. They are just returning from a holiday in France.

So, until we "connect" again....